Solving Silence
by alien sex kitten
Summary: Demyx. The Melodious Nocturne. The one no one believes in, the scapegoat, the airhead... "It can't be, you're not Demyx... you're lying!" "Why would I lie to you, you pathetic maggot of a Nobody I'm obligated to call a fellow member!" .:Horror-ish?:.
1. Puzzle

There was silence in the Castle That Never Was. This was unusual, perhaps, but not a wholly unwelcome change compared to the chaos of the last few days.

In one of the many silent rooms within this enormous estate, Castle Occupant IX (also known as The Melodious Nocturne, but mostly know as Demyx) was solving a puzzle. It was a crazy puzzle, with a lot of different color and patterns, but there were not any definite shapes, as far as Demyx could tell, which made the puzzle even more intriguing. Although, the generous amount of pure white pieces was beginning to grate on his already thin nerves.

He picked up one of the pieces and stared at it a moment, eyes flickering sideways to look at the half-completed puzzle ever so often to compare shapes of sides, before putting the piece back down on the white coffee table and repeating the process four more times. Finally, he slid a piece into its proper place with a quiet 'click', a soft, "Score!" and a slight smile.

It was time-consuming and addicting work, this puzzle solving, but it was extremely entertaining, and there really was not anything else to do around here. The sitarist had contemplated finding one of the other members to hang with, but after the _**amazing**_ results that list had, he had decided not to.

"Superior? No, what am I thinking…"

"Xigbar? Hmm…he's more than likely off with his guns, not something I want to do right now…"

"Xaldin? He'd probably spear me, we're not very close."

"Vexen? Definitely not, he'd kill me!"

"Lexeaus? Well, he's a nice guy, but we don't really 'click'…"

"Zexion? Nuh-uh, he doesn't really like me either."

"Saïx? How about 'no'?"

"Axel? Well, Axel's my friend, but he's been really busy with Roxas lately… probably wouldn't appreciate me butting in if they were up to anything…"

"Luxord? Hmm… off playing cards somewhere I bet, not something I'm fantastic at."

"Marluxia? No. End of story."

"Larxene? HA! If Vexen would kill me, she'd MURDER me!"

"Roxas? Nope, off with Axel…"

In the end, staying here with his puzzle was the best (Read: ONLY) choice, so here Demyx had stayed. Anyway, if, for whatever reason, one of them wanted his company, they could come seek him out. Plus, Demyx hadn't gotten to work on a puzzle in awhile. Superior had been sending him out on more and more missions lately, for a reason that Demyx had no urge to ask of. The places he went to weren't so bad, and he'd met some pretty nice, albeit a bit crazy, people. Besides, it was nice to get away from all of the drama popping up everywhere. Formerly forgotten tempers were flaring, fights were common, and more than half of the castle occupants weren't speaking with one another.

'So, just because they have no hearts doesn't mean that they can't act like a bunch of adolescent teenagers,' Demyx thought a bit bitterly, sliding another piece into place with slightly more force than was necessary.

He was wisely staying out of it. The memories of going through that shit when he was in school had squashed any smidgen of desire to do it again. Not that he'd had any to begin with; it was all petty and meaningless.

It's just so frustrating, being surrounded by it all the time. There had been a few situations in which he thought he was going to go crazy too, but a few bad memories and a good night's sleep had deathly chilled those urges. However, he was rather convinced that if he didn't get out of here soon he really WAS going to go crazy, and being lost in a sea amid his comrades' niggling problems was not how he wanted to spend the rest of his nobody life. So, he was leaving; probably just for a few days, until things calmed down, but he was prepared for longer. After all, he didn't have to worry about getting old, did he?

That train of thought made a hysterical round of giggling bubble in Demyx's stomach, and he knew he wouldn't be able to keep it in for long. He never had been the best at holding his laughter.

Sure enough, a few moments later, giggling began to fill the castle halls. It was a high-pitched, crazy sort of laughter, the kind you would expect to hear in an insane asylum. It progressed into chuckling, and then it turned into full-blown laughing, although, perhaps laughing wasn't quite the right word. It was actually more of a cackling, but it didn't have the nasally, cracking quality to it that everyone always associated with cackling witches.

'I'd better stop,' Demyx thought randomly, 'If I disrupted anyone's "peaceful silence" they're going to be very irritated.'

Of course, this did nothing to still the sitarist's laughter. If anything, it only made him laugh harder, until he had actually fallen off the couch he was on and was now kneeling on the hard, white, tile floor, clutching his aching stomach with one arm and trying to cover his mouth with the other, though it wasn't working.

Only when he heard the distinct sound of someone teleporting into the room did he seriously _think _about just how much noise he was making. Using a great deal of self-control, he was able to stop his insane laughter and only have a few stifled giggles escape every now and then rather than a whole pack.

"Demyx…?" A rather groggy voice cut through the after silence of the sitarist's laughter as easily as a knife through water, which caused Demyx to twitch wildly and spin around to pinpoint the location of the mysterious voice person.

When he did, he made the most unusual face anyone had ever really seen on him. His eyes went wide with surprise, but the blonde eyebrows went down in a mock glare, while one of his cheeks puffed out, the other pulled in as he bit down on it and his mouth twisted in a grotesque sort of motion that was a cross between a snarl and a smirk.

"Oh, snap…" he muttered through his misshapen lips, eyeing the group of people in front of him with an odd sort of stare that matched his crazy face. Standing in the doorway of the room were Axel and Roxas, and behind them were Xemnas and Saïx. On either sides of the doorway, standing like guards, were Lexeaus and Vexen, with Larxene standing to Vexen's left, and Demyx knew that if he looked up he would find the scarred face of Xigbar. Vaguely, he wondered where the rest of the organization was and his mind instantaneously, and quite happily, supplied to him that Xaldin and Luxord were off on assignments, Marluxia had been sent to Castle Oblivion for tonight, and Zexion was more than likely down in his lab, working on some project or another that was "scientific".

However, the thing that his mind immediately latched onto was the fact that everyone…was wearing pajamas.

'Slumber party anyone? I'll get the popcorn, and then we can braid each other's hair and talk about boys!' He thought wildly, which caused another barrage of mad giggles to escape him, leaving all of the others in the room to stare at him as if he had grown five heads.

"Demyx…?" Axel questioned slowly, looking vaguely frightened, with every right to be, seeing as how his friend was freaking out for no reason other than the fact that he looked at them.

"Yeeeeaaaaaaasssss, Axel?" Demyx answered back, just as slowly, sounding slightly breathless from the giggles but otherwise perfectly normal. Thankfully, his face was clearing from its obscene state and now only his wide eyes remained, which gave him the movie perfect expression of innocence.

"Why were you giggling madly and waking us all up at three in the fucking morning?"

"Is it really already three? Well, I'll be, doesn't time just fly when you're having fun?"

The only response he got to that was blank stares and menacing glares.

"Number IX, go to sleep."

"Can do, Superior!"

With that, the conversation was over, apparently. Everyone went back to their former sleeping places, most people throwing Demyx a nasty look over their shoulder as they vanished into their portals. Xigbar, at least, had the decency to throw a, "Night kid," at the Melodious Nocturne before he too, portaled away. Axel, however, was the last one to stay behind (with Roxas, of course, who looked irritated at being woken up at this time of morning) to speak with Demyx.

"Hey Dem, you sure you're all right?"

"What? Axel, Axel, Axel, of course I'm all right. Why do you ask?"

"Well, doing crazy stuff, like the giggling and all that, it just doesn't seem like you."

"Actually, now that I think about it…"

But whatever Demyx thought about would not be spoken to Axel that night, or any other night for that matter, for however patient Roxas may be, it _**was**_ three in the morning, and Roxas was tired.

"Axel, we're leaving," was the only warning he got before the redhead was pulled into a portal by the sleep deprived blonde, and the last thing he registered before the hole closed was his other friend's crazy wide shit-eating grin and a sing-songed, "You kids have fun now!"

'What the hell?'

* * *

The second the portal vanished, the smile dropped from Demyx's face like butter and a sneer immediately replaced it, an odd expression on the sitarist's face.

"I am _**so **_ready to blow this joint." He muttered, sea-colored eyes scanning the room with great scrutiny, making sure there was nothing left other than the three quarter way done puzzle at his feet. Somehow, during his laughing fit, he had knocked it on the floor without making any of the pieces fall off. He _really_ smiled then, which looked more like a gruesome torture face than a happy face. It was a little known fact that Demyx had to practice smiling, which was why he did it all the time. It wasn't because he liked it, and it _**definitely**_ wasn't because he was a happy person, but rather, because of this. This ghastly look that was more teeth than lips, that would cause nightmares in little children's dreams, had there been any kids around to see it.

Demyx had spent **hours **in front of the mirror, making sure that when he smiled it didn't remind anyone of the expression someone would have when they were being burned to death. Sometimes, he slipped up and he would recognize the signs on the other person's face, the wide eyes, the sweaty forehead, the quivering lower jaw. He always fixed it, usually by mock growling and then laughing it off with a "true" smile, the one everyone knew, the "real" one, not this hideous replacement.

However, here, in this big white room, all by himself, Demyx could afford to slip up, and it wouldn't hurt anyone. No one was around to see it, so there was no harm. Besides, if, for whatever reason, someone did pop in and see it, Demyx would fix it like always and there would be no problems.

He grabbed the puzzle and popped it back into the box, taking great care not to bump off any of the pieces, then grabbing the loose pieces and tossing them on top. With a whooshing noise, he slid the lid over the bottom of the now occupied puzzle box and then, with one last glance around the chamber, he too portaled away, leaving the room as it began before Demyx had started his puzzle in there this morning: cold, empty, and silent.

_THISISTHESTUPIDLINETHATSEPERATESTHESTUPIDAUTHORSNOTESFROMTHESTORY_

**Well, I'll be. That actually didn't turn out nearly as horrible as I thought it would.**

**Actually, to be honest, I think it's fantabulous and the last part's the best, but that may just be the Stephen King fangirl part of me speaking. xD**

**Anywhos, like it or lump it people. And for the record, flames shall be used to keep my snake's tank warm with. And then I shall sick my snake on you, and I shall take pictures of it and post them… ONLINE! Dun dun dunnn…**

**So ha. I win. x3**


	2. Laughter

**w00t.**

**Next chapter.**

**This one isn't as good as the first chapter, but I still like it anyways. So hopefully you will too! :D**

**…**

**(Would you like some crackers and wine to go with that cheesiness?)**

_THISISTHESTUPIDLINETHATSEPERATESTHESTUPIDAUTHORSNOTESFROMTHESTORY_

The next morning at breakfast (one of the few times in which everyone was in the same room at the same time, other than for meetings), there was a tense silence that hung over the table, broken only occasionally by the 'clink' of silverware on the glass plates and the sound of people chewing.

This silence was not unusual, but never before had it been so pronounced. This time, the atmosphere was so thick with bitterness and anxiety it couldn't have been cut with a chainsaw. Very rarely did the air ever become this heavy, and if it ever did, someone (mostly Demyx or Axel) was there to remedy the situation.

However, the water bearer was not at the table this morning, and the pyro had been extremely subdued since the incident with Demyx last night. He merely stared down at his plate and moved the food around sullenly, not eating or saying anything.

As a matter of fact, everyone seemed a little uneasy about the night before. Demyx was, hands down, the most eccentric of the organization, but never before had he seemed so… crazy. It was a little unnerving, to say the least.

* * *

Meanwhile, as everyone was suffocating at the breakfast table, the aforementioned mullet-haired man was worlds away, in a little place named "Wonderland". Joining him were two other beings: his favorite dancer nobody, and a small girl everyone called Alice.

The three were currently traveling through the Lotus Forest, having a rather pleasant conversation about nothing specific.

It was quite incredible to listen to however. The conversation shifted topics so fast that trying to keep track of them would make anyone's head spin.

The trio suddenly stopped and Demyx plopped down in the soft purple grass, sighing in relief when he was able to take his body weight off his stinging feet. The young girl sat right next to him, and the Dancer fell down next to her master on the other side in an oddly graceful yet squirmy way.

Moments passed as no one spoke, but there was nothing uncomfortable about this silence. Just three friends (as awkward and strange as their relationship was, they were still friends) hanging out with each other and having a good time.

Alice suddenly pulled out a picnic basket from thin air and set it on the ground, opening it shortly thereafter and revealing a whole array of delicious food that had everyone's mouth watering in an instant. Demyx didn't realize how hungry he was until he spotted the meal, and he remembered that he had missed breakfast at the castle.

"Hmm… I missed breakfast at the castle…" he repeated out loud, grabbing a sandwich and taking a bite as he contemplated. "Wonder how everyone's taking that…Good I suppose. No one likes me much. I think they only tolerate me because of what Superior will do to them if they don't."

Alice looked shocked, and if nobodies had hearts from which emotions were formed, the Dancer would appear the same. Unlike every other nobody, she loved her master as much as a nobody could, and the fact that no one seemed to like him had always bothered her. However, to hear it come so bluntly from his mouth was a bitter surprise.

"Oh, but why?" The blonde haired girl exclaimed. "Why, you're so kind, and such pleasant company as well! In fact, you're the only one I've ever met in this crazy place who's actually bothered to engage me in civilized conversation!"

It was now Demyx's turn to look surprised. "Really? Well I'll be. I don't know why everyone is turning away from you. You are incredibly optimistic for someone in your situation. Not to mention, a swell conversationalist to that. Why, I bet that if someone who lived here tried to talk to decently you'd become the most popular person around! Much more well-liked than that _**queen**_, anyway."

That comment sent the three into giggles, well, Demyx and Alice into giggles. The Dancer just made this weird sort of noise that somewhat resembled a snort, laugh, thing. Whatever it was, it certainly sounded amused.

There was something picture perfect about that scene. This odd trio, one human, one humanoid nobody, and one silver and pink mass of pure nobody, laughing about something so obscene as the queen of the world's attitude.

Alice, the girl, fair haired and _**alive**_ in her blue and white dress. She wasn't supposed to be here, wasn't even supposed to know Wonderland even existed, but yet here she was, as if fate willed for it to be.

Demyx, the human nobody, covered in bright colors (having decided to forego the black cloak and uniform for something more fitting to his personality) and not supposed to even be _**alive**_, let alone have emotions and, god forbid, show those emotions. But IX had always been a rebel (Although he tended to take the "passive aggressive" route instead of the blunt plan), even as a Somebody.

And The Dancer, the pure nobody. Not supposed to have a heart, or emotions, or even a specific gender. To be only a mindless killing machine, only needed to do the dirty work. Yet, here she was, laughing with her master and friend, not a nobody, but a companion, a buddy. A friend.

Out of nowhere, whether because of the sudden overload of happy emotions or because the world wanted to, a sudden rise of bubbles came out from beneath them, bubbles of all different colors, shapes, sizes.

The once trickling off giggles now became gales of screaming laughter, joyful laughter one only truly experiences once or twice in a lifetime, laughter that cannot be expressed in words, only raw sound.

These bubbles were anything one wanted them to be. A friend, an enemy, a lover, a messenger, even a tasty meal if one wished. They would bend to a will, change form, color. They were true life. Anything one can dream in the form of a bubble.

Suddenly, Demyx remembered something and he snagged a bubble from mid-air, catching it gently on the tips of his fingers, fingerless gloves exposing the appendages to the crisp air.

The bubble was nothing special really. In fact, it looked exactly like a normal bubble, round and clear with the hint of the rainbow inside. However, that was why the Melodious Nocturne had picked it. If he had learned anything from his nobody life, it was that you should never assume anything. Unfortunately, he could tell that no one else in the organization had learned the same lesson.

With a smile, laughter now under control, he gave the bubble a message that was to be announced when the bubble had reached its destination. Then, with a happy laugh, he blew the bubble softly off of his finger and gave a small wave as it floated away, turning back to the large ensemble of other bubbles once it was out of sight.

"What was that?" A small, curious voice piped up from his right side and he looked down to see Alice standing there, coated from head to toe in bubbles, a questioning look on her pretty face.

"A message for my fellow organization members," he replied, swiftly snatching a bubble from her nose with a long, tan finger, causing a giggle to escape from the both of them.

"Ohh… What did it say?"

"Nothing but laughter, darling."

"Laughter? You sent them a bubble of laughter?" Alice looked a tad bit confused, so Demyx tried to clarify.

"Indeed I did. I severely doubt that any of them even remember what laughter is, so I felt the need to remind them. As much as they are not extremely friendly towards me, except for one, they need something to brighten up their dismal nobody lives. Plus, it isn't exactly fair if we get to experience this amazing phenomenon and they don't even know it happens, is it?"

"You are absolutely right. It is not. How thoughtful of you."

"Thank you."

"You are most welcome."

_THISISTHESTUPIDLINETHATSEPERATESTHESTUPIDAUTHORSNOTESFROMTHESTORY_

**Well, I suppose it could've been worse.**

**Seriously.**

**It could've.**

**I swear.**

**…**

**-brick'd-**


	3. Blood

**_2-24-09: A/N edited to clear up confusion._**

**_

* * *

  
_**

_i'm back, off my lazy ass and writing again._

_kind of._

_we should celebrate regardless._

_(dedicated to everyone who wanted me to write the next chapter (those, like, 6 of you.) ;])_

_WARNINGS:_

_blood and creepy Demyx-ness and time-ish screw-i-ness and organization confused-ness._

_enjoy._

_**THISISTHESTUPIDLINETHATSEPERATESTHESTUPIDAUTHORSNOTESFROMTHESTORY**_

The water ran in rivulets down his upturned face, sliding slowly over the dark eyelashes and high cheekbones, stopping to pool in the hollow of his throat, the raindrops caressing his golden skin tenderly. He always felt so at peace in the rain, but whether because of his powers or if it was just the way he was, he didn't know.

He didn't really care either.

A sudden shout echoed in his ears, as if it came from inside his head.

"Demyx!"

It probably did, but he didn't really care about that either.

"Demyx!"

He heard it again, but this time it came from the outside, a revelation that startled him.

'Why would someone be calling me?' he thought in surprise, trying in vain to locate the source of the voice.

However, he needn't look long, because out of the corner of his eye he saw a bubble.

A bubble that was very familiar...

"Alice!" He cried delightfully, immediately grabbing the floating object lightly out of mid air, setting it delicately atop the nearest bush and peering into it, his aqua eyes magnified to humorous sizes.

His exclamation was quickly replied to with an anxious, "Oh Demyx, I'm so sorry to bother you, but something dreadful is happening in Wonderland!"

The Nocturne cocked his head to the side contemplatively; water logged dirty blonde hair falling into his eyes as he narrowed them in thought.

"Oh dear, no need to apologize. What seems to be the issue?"

"I'm afraid it's the Queen…" the young girl sighed and shook her head slowly, as if disappointed. "She's gone on a rampage, yelling 'Off with their head!' at everything in sight… it would be quite amusing if not for the fact that I'm afraid she's going to catch me and order MY head to be cut off, and that would be most distressing, what with my not having a head and all."

Demyx couldn't help but snort in amusement.

"I don't know, the Cheshire Cat seems to handle it just fine."

Alice laughed lightly, a melodious sound that caused the small bubble to quiver.

"True, but that Cat doesn't follow the laws of physics, so I'm quite skeptical as to whether he counts in this situation, or ANY situation, in fact..."

The two chuckled together, until a sudden garbled sound came from Alice's end of the bubble, and she glanced guiltily behind her, eyes wide with fear.

"Oh deary me, it's the Queen…"

The Nocturne looked at the younger in surprise, but then a smirk slid across his face, looking very out of place as opposed to his usually carefree expression.

"Alright Alice, I'll be there in a few minutes, okay? Just don't get hurt and I'll take care of it."

And with that, the mulleted boy vanished into a portal and left the garden empty, rain falling immediately to the ground, not stopped by a tall, blonde, lanky, golden skinned sitar player.

* * *

On the other side of the bubble, the aforementioned aqua eyed male appeared not even a second after he said he'd be there.

A gasp of surprise and a scream of pain were heard consecutively following his arrival, and then a splash of blood hit the bubble and it popped, the soap suds falling unnoticed to the ground, disguised in the rain.

* * *

Although it was not unusual to see splashes of red and black human and Heartless blood on the floor after someone came back from a mission, it was a little unnerving to see so much of it, and especially in such an abstract pattern. It almost looked as though it was supposed to say something…

A sudden whistling from down the hall brings everyone's attention to the doorway, where a red mass moves past, dripping the sticky substance on to the floor with a slow, morbid "SPLAT" as the drops hit the spotless white floor.

The figure slowly meanders past the door to the gathering of Nobodies, whistling jovially as it does so, but as soon as it is out of sight, the whistling stops just as suddenly as the dripping sound did.

A silence ensues, which is harshly cut by the startling sound of what seems like scratching on the wall right next to the outside of the room. The whistling and dripping have started up again, but this time the whistling is punctuated by words that make everyone in the room stare with disbelief.

"The witch is dead…" Scratching. "The witch is dead…" More scratching. "The wicked witch…" More, frantic scratching. "The wicked witch is deadd~!" The last word is accentuated with a sharp stab to the wall and a snarling sound that echoed through the halls viciously.

"Or perhaps I should say Queen…?" The sigh that accompanies this question is soft and dreamy, a sigh that is easily recognizable at the worst of times. It is often heard around the castle, followed quickly by a laugh or a note that reverberates from a certain water bearer's sitar.

* * *

Out in the hall with said sitar playing water bearer, he is having a crisis. Laughter is bubbling rapidly in his chest, and he knows he won't be able to hold it in for long, but to laugh now would be totally ruining the entire image he's set up.

To keep from laughing too early, he examines the drawing on the wall, adding slight touch ups here and there as he sees fit, before he steps back slowly and sighs again, the sound stemming the flow of chuckles that are about to burst from him in large amounts.

On the wall is a picture that so perfectly depicts the actions that took place in Wonderland that Demyx is foolishly proud of himself for a few moments, until he realizes that the other Organization members are probably wondering what he's up to outside of the meeting room.

With a skip and a hop, he tromps past the doorway again, this time stopping and leaning against the frame, a deadly smirk fixed firmly on his tanned, beautiful face.

"Good evening fellow organization members! May I inquire as to the reasoning for this gathering that I was allegedly not invited to?"

The silence following this inquiry is deathly terse and no one moves, besides the continuous drip of the blood falling off of the grinning Nocturne, the sticky fluid hitting the ground in morbidly slow motion.

"Why, I'm hurt!" Demyx cries suddenly, flinging himself into the wall with a splat, putting the back of his head to his forehead and sobbing dramatically, "First, you have a party without me, and then, when I catch you, you don't even have the nerve to tell me why you had one?! Dear god!"

With a squelch, he slides down the wall slowly, the resounding noise being a mixture of a squeal and screech, much like wet nails on a chalkboard.

He hits the sparkling white ground wetly and then falls to a crumpled heap, his shoulders shaking as he buries his head in his hands, blood drenched Mohawk falling precariously to one side as he shudders on the floor.

The other members can do nothing but stare at the quivering mass of blonde nobody that is curled up on the tile, when their attention is abruptly directed elsewhere.

Laughter suddenly explodes from the other side of the hall, and this seems to set off a chain reaction.

Cackling is coming from all corners of all the rooms in the whole castle, echoing and bouncing about from wall to wall and ceiling to floor. It seems to be freezing time, restricting movement, ceasing thought patterns…

With a deep, malicious chuckle, Demyx rises from the floor slowly and steadily, and then advances towards the group inside the room, eyes glowing brightly in the slowly darkening room.

As soon as he's inside, he calmly and leisurely begins shutting the door and the lights blink for a few seconds before dying, dousing the room in pure darkness.

He peeks his head around the rapidly closing door, and then grins a real smile, and seals the door completely.

The hall is silent.

Beside the door, on the wall, is the picture Demyx drew.

It's the Queen of Wonderland.

_Was_, the Queen of Wonderland.

What's left of her face is drawn in a morbid expression of horror and fright, and standing above her, completely spotless and standing on blood soaked lawn, is Demyx.

Smiling.

_**THISISTHESTUPIDLINETHATSEPERATESTHESTUPIDAUTHORSNOTESFROMTHESTORY**_

_i'm sorry if it didn't meet up to your expectations, it's a little different than the last two, i know, but it'll get better. _

_review plx? _


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